Motor vehicles are currently increasingly equipped with a surroundings sensor system that is able to detect objects in the surroundings of the vehicle. The data of such surroundings sensors can be used to plan and carry out automatic maneuvers of the vehicle. Such methods are known, for example, from parking assistants.
Similar to automatic parking systems, assistance systems for coupling a trailer to a vehicle are also known.
In particular, in the dark or in bad weather, when the driver is alone, it may be difficult and uncomfortable for the driver to maneuver the vehicle properly for coupling the vehicle to the trailer hitch. It is often necessary to get in and out of the vehicle repeatedly, since a precisely targeted maneuver requires a certain amount of skill on the part of the driver. In addition, the trailer may be very difficult to handle, depending on the design and the load state. An assistance function which forms part of the maneuver or even the entire maneuver in a partially or fully automatic fashion reduces the probability of collisions and constitutes a large gain in comfort for the driver.
A method for automatically coupling or docking by means of an image sensor system includes the coupling of a trailer which is detected by an object detection algorithm. Subsequently, an autonomous coupling maneuver can be carried out, where the necessary lock angle of the steering wheel and the speed for approaching the coupling of the trailer are calculated.
A method is known in which a camera on-board the motor vehicle captures a towing head of a trailer as a maneuvering target and maneuvers the vehicle partially or fully automatically into a position that is suitable for coupling. The driver may be informed as to whether the towing head of the trailer drawbar is lower than the ball head of the trailer device, with the result that the driver can raise the trailer drawbar. A disadvantage is that vertical adjustments of the trailer drawbar have to be made by the driver. The driver must therefore, under certain circumstances, repeatedly get in and out of the vehicle, which is uncomfortable and possibly time-consuming. In addition, the vertical adjustment of the trailer drawbar can likewise be difficult, time-consuming or uncomfortable, depending on the design of the trailer and the load state.